CBA negotiation extended one week

Douglas LeeMar 4, 2011 1:10 PM

According to a multitude of reports on Twitter, the owners have accepted the players' offer to extend the CBA talks for another seven days. The new deadline will be next Friday (March 11) at 5pm ET, and mediated negotiations will resume on Monday. This extension is purely for the sake of working toward a new CBA, so no player transactions will be permitted.

Doug is IAOFM’s resident newsman and spelling czar. Follow him on Twitter @IAOFM

This is the first that I&#8217ve felt that the dispute won&#8217t go into the fall. It doesn&#8217t feel like posturing to me. sure, neither side wants to be the one who pulls the trigger, so I could see a scenario in which each side plays a game of brinksmanship in extending the talks to make the other side pull the trigger on the lockout / decertification. But if that was the case, why wait a week? do another day and then hold a press conference accusing the other side of not negotiating in good faith. And again, if that were the case, why go through such lengthy negotiations? we&#8217re working on what, 11 days of full-day mediation sessions? If they&#8217re not really negotiating, what the heck are they actually doing in there? Sure, there may be some filibustering going on, but 11 days&#8217 worth of filibustering? And lastly, this Cohen guy seems like he&#8217s got both sides in line. There hasn&#8217t been a single leak on either side in the time he&#8217s been mediating, and virtually no sniping in the media either. Compare that to how bitter the conflict was before, and the difference is remarkable. If they manage to pull this off, Cohen deserves a national holiday, or at least a bust in Canton (certainly more than Monk or Carson!

Posted by Hercules Rockefeller on 2011-03-04 22:29:40

As a fan if they are quibbling over an 18 game season then that alone isn&#8217t enough to create a lockout&#8230I am very happy for the 16 game season and the 4 preseason games. I see the players point on this with injury concerns.

Rookie cap? I can&#8217t see why the players would object to this, they already have their&#8217s.

What is really holding this thing up?

Posted by bfree2bronc on 2011-03-04 20:45:38

I&#8217m holding onto the fact that many analysts (including some from this site) believe a deal will get done in the 11th hour. I hope it will. However, every move by either side, including this extension, now seems like another negotiating ploy that really doesn&#8217t accomplish anything except to help them get more firmly entrenched for war.

I just don&#8217t see compromises coming easily&#8230or quickly&#8230from either side&#8230at least not until after they have sustained heavy damages after prolonged battle. Geez, I hope I am wrong!

Posted by JoePlummer on 2011-03-04 19:43:46

I really hope they can pull this off soon, I&#8217d like player transaction news to keep me distracted. Nice unselfish reason after all.